In compression/decompression (codec) systems, compression efficiency and video quality are important performance criteria. Visual quality is an important aspect of the user experience in many video applications and compression efficiency impacts the amount of memory storage needed to store video files and/or the amount of bandwidth needed to transmit and/or stream video content. For example, a video encoder compresses video information so that more information can be sent over a given bandwidth or stored in a given memory space or the like. The compressed signal or data may then be decoded via a decoder that decodes or decompresses the signal or data for display to a user. In most implementations, higher visual quality with greater compression is desirable. Furthermore, encoding speed and efficiency are important aspects of video encoding.
It may be advantageous to improve video encoding speed and compression rate while maintaining or even improving video quality. It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present improvements have been needed. Such improvements may become critical as the desire to compress and transmit video data becomes more widespread.